Collaboration with the Synchrotron SOLEIL
The FLOWER project aims at producing 3 prototypes of biocomposites in the nautical sector (a foilboat), the publicity sector (an advertising support) and the automotive one (a headliner). It is now done, with the three prototypes finalised; a description of our previous work can be found here. Following the acceptance of a project extension, 3 new prototypes were produced (a wind turbine, a nautical dinghy and a refrigerated truck panel). The innovation in these prototypes comes from the use of natural fibres to replace glass fibre. The flax fibre used in the FLOWER project is lighter, has a low environmental impact and is locally produced. However, this natural fibre is subject to climatic conditions and certain diseases. In order to optimise the properties of the fibres used in biocomposite materials, work with flax fibre producers is needed to identify the best fibres and harvesting periods. This involves analysing batches of…
FLOWER Closing event
After 5 years of research and joint work, the FLOWER partners are delighted to present their results in Lorient on 14 March 2023 for the project closing event. This day will focus on the evolution of biocomposites since 2018, as well as on the future prospects and future developments. The presentations will promote the partners’ results and their feedback on participation in a European project. Three researchers, experts in the field of biocomposites, will also be present to share their experience in other European projects: Vincent Placet (FEMTO-ST), Aart W. Van Vuure (KU Leuven) and Josep Costa Balanzat (Universitat de Girona). There will be time for discussion with all participants during the day. Click here to register to the event. Registration is free but mandatory. This event is organised with the support of the Bioeconomy for Change (B4C) and EMC2 competitiveness clusters and co-financed by the European and Regional Development…
2022 – FLOWER latest achievements
FLOWER project continues to make progress! The FLOWER project, led by the University of South Brittany, and co-funded by the Interreg France Channel England programme has achieved major steps in the last weeks. FLOWER extension European authorities have decided to extend the project for 9 more months, based on the success of the first part of the project. Partners have managed to achieve all the project goals in time, showing their competency in the biobased composites sector. The 3 planned demonstrators have been produced: POP panels for the advertising sector, a foiling boat for the sailing sector and a car headliner for the automotive sector. New prototypes will be designed in this extension. Howa-Tramico and Kairos will create new versions of the headliner and of the advertising panels, based on their previous works they will improve the first demonstrators. Partners will start working in two new sectors, the transport and…
Industrial demonstrators developped in FLOWER
With the project ending in September 2022, FLOWER enters its final phase, with the three planned demonstrators being in validation. The bill of specifications planed the conception of three innovative prototypes for the advertising, nautical and automotive sectors. The main objective was to create sustainable, cost effective and environmentally friendly lightweight composites, using locally cultivated flax fibers. All project partners participated in the making of these biocomposites, by the supply of flax fibres, the conception of semi-products (EcoTechnilin, TVDC), the production of prototypes (Howa-Tramico, Kaïros) and mechanical tests of these new materials (UBS, INRAE, UOP, UOC). The work carried on to finalise these demonstrators is presented below: Automotive headliner – Howa-Tramico (WP T1 – T2) The initial objective for this prototype was to develop and produce a new automotive headliner with an improved environmental assessment thanks to the use of plant fibre reinforcement instead of glass based ones. The developments…
JEC WORLD Innovation Awards Finalists 2022
The results are in, 30 finalists have been selected by the JEC internal jury from all the entries to the JEC WORLD Innovation Awards. Three nominees have been chosen in each of the 10 categories. The FLOWER project is proud to announce that its two applications have been selected! This is a recognition of the work done by all the partners since the beginning of the project. Howa Tramico presented its prototype of a lightweight automotive headliner reinforced with non-woven flax fibres in the “Automotive and Road Transportation – Surfaces” category. Kaïros, on the other hand, presented its point-of-sale advertising demonstrator in the “Design, Furniture & Home” category. The award ceremony will take place on 26 April in Paris, one week before JEC World 2022, and will be available via live streaming. The prototypes will be presented at JEC WORLD 2022 on a stand dedicated to the FLOWER project in…
CALL FOR PAPERS
FLOWER academic partners (University of Portsmouth, University of South brittany, University of Cambridge, INRAE) have launched together a call for papers that will be published in a Special Issue on biobased composites for advanced applications (the way for moving towards circularity: perspectives and challenges). The aim of this special issue is to highlight and address some of the issues related to the overall performance of biobased composites along with the key advantages and potential solutions for key industrial sectors. High-performance advanced application of these biocomposites in areas such as transport, marine, construction, and aerospace are still limited due to some inherent issues such as property variability of plant fibres as reinforcement, their susceptibility to high moisture uptake, lower enduring capabilities at extreme weathering conditions, and less compatibility with hydrophobic polymer matrices leading to inferior mechanical performance of resultant composites. The aim of this special issue is to highlight and address…
4th Conference – University of Cambridge
Do not miss the next FLOWER conference, organised by Cambridge University! Previous FLOWER conferences at INRAe, Nantes (April 2019), the University of Portsmouth (April 2020), and the University of South Brittany (April 2021) have served to share progress of the FLOWER project, as well as bring together academics and industry experts across the biocomposites supply chain to discuss scientific and technological developments relating to extending the uptake of biocomposites. The fourth and final FLOWER conference will take place on 15-16th December 2021 at the University of Cambridge. The central focus of this conference will be ‘Biobased Composites for Mobility and Transportation: Moving towards Sustainability’. Some of the key themes to be explored include understanding structure-property-function relations in plant fibre composites, the specificities of designing biocomposites for transportation applications, the end-of-life scenarios of biocomposites, and industrial development of biocomposite products. The conference will take place over three half-day sessions and host…
Kick-off FLOWER – Lorient – 20/21 September 2018
Kick-off FLOWER – Lorient – 20/21 September 2018 After being completely approved by the cross-border cooperation Programme Interreg France (Channel) England, the official launch event of FLOWER[1] project took place on Thursday, September 20th in the University of South Brittany, Lorient. This day was the occasion to gather more than 60 participants, directly or indirectly concerned by the project developments. In the morning, the 8 FLOWER’s partners[2] their respective companies or laboratories and their objectives in the project. In the afternoon, different guest speakers addressed several issues related to the project, from technical and scientific aspects on the interest of flax fibres in composites materials to the presentation of collaborative projects on biocomposites.You can find below the programme of this day. The following day, FLOWER’s partners met in the Research Centre for an internal working session: administrative issues, PhD students presentations, discussions and implementation of the work…